Man with loaded gun charged with stalking Athens woman

updated Tuesday, January 28, 2014 - 11:12pm

An armed man was arrested early Tuesday when he was caught stalking a former girlfriend at her Athens apartment complex, Athens-Clarke County police said.

Steven Martin Williams, 25, had a loaded pistol with a chambered bullet in the waistband of his pants when officers found him at about 3:30 a.m., police said.

Officers responded to the woman’s home on a complaint that Martin was harassing her with phone calls, text messages and over the Internet, according to police. The officers listened to voicemail messages that police described as vulgar and threatening.

During his most recent phone call, Williams told the woman she needed to come see him where he parked his truck across the street from her complex, she told police.

When officers found Williams in his pickup and found that he was armed, they removed the loaded gun from his waistband and made it safe.

Police determined that Williams had placed the victim under surveillance. The woman told police that she and Williams formerly lived together.

Officers found an open bottle of whiskey in the truck, along with a marijuana grinder, a bong and other smoking devices containing some marijuana residue.

Williams was charged with several misdemeanors including making obscene or harassing phone calls, possession of marijuana, possession of an open container in a motor vehicle and possession of drug objects, police said.

He was also charged with stalking, but authorities did not immediately determine whether that would be a misdemeanor or felony offense.

At the time of his arrest, Martin was free on bond from a DUI arrest made by the University of Georgia Police Department two weeks earlier.

The Pine Forest Drive resident was being held without bail at the Clarke County Jail as of Tuesday afternoon.

Anyone who is in an abusive relationship can seek advice and services by calling Project Safe’s 24-hour hot line at (706) 543-3331, or by visiting http://www.project-safe.org.